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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29925270">An officer's duty</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCoffeeNebula9/pseuds/TheCoffeeNebula9'>TheCoffeeNebula9</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Trek</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 21:34:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,230</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29925270</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCoffeeNebula9/pseuds/TheCoffeeNebula9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The entire crew of the Enterprise is grieving Data's death. <br/>You, the closest person to Data, next to Geordi gets a visit from the captain. He doesn't only want to support you but he has a question for you...<br/>"Do you blame me for his death?"</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Data (Star Trek)/Reader, Jean-Luc Picard &amp; Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>An officer's duty</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi guys,</p><p>I saw Star Trek nemesis a couple of days back and I am still trying to process what happened... That's why I made this fic. <br/>Hope you like it :)<br/>Feedback is always welcome!</p><p>Enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>An officer’s duty</p><p>You were sitting alone in your quarters. Your head fell between your legs. You were holding a photograph of Data. </p><p>It’s a picture of that one time the two of you were on shore leave. Data didn’t need shore leave but he accompanied you and Geordi down to the planet. It felt like he actually was enjoying himself, even though he didn’t have emotions. </p><p>The fact that you would never take shore leave again hit you hard. You felt empty. Emptier than you have ever felt. You didn’t feel like this when Tasha died or when any of your other friends died. Data meant so much more to you than you could have ever imagined. </p><p>He always stood up for you. Took care of you when you didn’t take care of yourself. <br/>You taught him what it meant to be human. You needed him. You couldn’t imagine what your life would be like without him. Now you didn’t have a choice but to accept that you will have to live on without him. </p><p>Your doorbell chimed. <br/>“Come in” you said softly.<br/>The door opened. Captain Picard’s silhouette appeared in front of you on the floor. <br/>You straightened yourself up. <br/>He noticed what you were doing and put up his hand. <br/>“At ease, lieutenant commander”<br/>Your room was dark. Captain Picard could barely see your face. Just as you he could only see your silhouette. </p><p>“It is very dark in here.”<br/>You quickly tried to dry your tears before turning up the light. You had been crying for hours. It was also the main reason you dimmed the lights. You felt a lot less exposed in the darkness. Not that anyone was there, or would walk in. A luxury of being a senior officer. You just didn’t want any unexpected visitors like Picard walk in on you while you looked like a mess. Now you had to do it anyways. </p><p>“Computer, increase lights.” <br/>The lights went up. Everything in the room became visible. Captain Picard noticed how red your eyes were. He noticed how wet your face was. You weren’t capable of wiping everything away. <br/>You stared at the captain who was standing in the doorframe. He seemed to be fighting back his tears as he saw your face. Feeling as hurt as you and any other crewmember onboard the Enterprise.</p><p> </p><p>“How are you? Are you okay?”<br/>You showed him a small smile. <br/>“No, sir, I am far from okay.”</p><p>The captain didn’t seem like himself. He was probably still working through the shock. The captain had been quiet ever since the event took place. You didn’t blame him. He was there when it happened. Data did the most selfless thing ever. He sacrificed his life for Picard’s.</p><p>The captain swallowed heavily before he spoke up again. <br/>“Lieutenant, do you blame me?”</p><p>You look up at him in surprise. You could never blame the captain for what had happened, no matter how tempting it might seem to. This was Data’s decision. Picard couldn’t do anything about this. <br/>He could have stopped him… If only there was more time. </p><p>You already heard the story at the gathering. You were in engineering when all this took place, working on B4. You were trying to download Data’s memories into B4. He requested you to make some sort of backup. You had no idea why he asked you this. You thought it might trigger B4 to respond and function like Data would. Apparently, Data had other plans. He knew that there was a change that he wouldn’t come back. </p><p>“I could never blame you.”<br/>Picard relaxed. Letting out a sigh of relief. You noticed how hurt Picard was. The poor man had been blaming himself for the death of his dearest friend. <br/>“It wasn’t your fault, captain.”<br/>The captain scoffed. <br/>“Wasn’t it? If I didn’t go out there…. If I didn’t give him command, he wouldn’t have come out to the ship to save me.”<br/>“You don’t know that! You know what he is like.” You heard yourself say it. “was…. what he was like.”’<br/>You couldn’t help but break down again. The thought of him was too painful. The constant reminder that people had been giving you. Sharing their stories with them. Sharing their condolences. You couldn’t stand it anymore. The constant reminder that you had been giving yourself. He was always on your mind. Even when he was alive. </p><p>Picard seated himself next to you wrapping his arm around you. <br/>“He was more human than you and I could ever be.”<br/>You tried to look at the captain. Your view was blurry because of the tears that filled your eyes.<br/>“You meant the world to him, captain. You were his inspiration. Even if he wasn’t given command, he would’ve come after you. Anything to save you.”</p><p>Tears formed in the captain’s eyes. <br/>“And he was mine. Data helped me become a better man.”<br/>You leaned your head against his shoulder. <br/>“What will we do without him?”<br/>“We keep him close, in our hearts. That is where he will live on. That is where he will keep inspiring us to be the people we are. It will just take time for us to get over our grief.”<br/>“I don’t think Will and Deanna can leave just yet. The crew of the Enterprise is in need of a counselor.”<br/>Picard laughed. <br/>“I think this ship needs more counselors.”</p><p>Picard noticed a box on the other side of the room. It seemed like a storage box. If he was correct, he could read the name Data on the label. <br/>“Is that Data’s?” he pointed to the box in the corner. <br/>You nodded your head and sat up straight. <br/>“Geordi brought it to me after he cleared out his room. He thought I might like having these. He said there was a painting with my name on it. I haven’t dared to open it.”</p><p>The captain stood up. “May I?”<br/>You gave him permission to open the box. They were just filled with some personal belongings, like his pencils and a couple of pictures of you and him together. </p><p>Picard took out the painting. It was a beautiful painting of your hometown. You told Data about how much you missed it, so he made a painting of it for you. he hadn’t shown it to you yet. Picard was the first to see it before you did. </p><p>“It is beautiful. You grew up in a beautiful place, (Y/N)”<br/>You smiled at the captain. “Why take you, sir.”<br/>“Do you want to see it?”<br/>You hesitated for a moment but nodded yes.<br/>Picard took the painting and walked over to you. <br/>The captain didn’t lie. It was beautiful. The sun that was shining in the painting. The beautiful fountain in the middle of the park. As you looked closely you could see Data’s signature on the bottom right of the painting. The little curve he made in the ‘D’ made you smile. </p><p>The captain could do nothing but admire the painting with you.</p><p>“Have I ever told you of that one time when Data believed he was Vincent Van Gogh?”<br/>You shook your head. <br/>Picard enthusiastically started sharing his story with you. <br/>That entire night you and Picard shared your own Data stories with each other. Remembering the man, they cared for the most.</p>
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